Start off with the thing that you want and ask yourself question 1 “Why is that important to you?”

Give yourself some time to ponder the answer and then ask question 2 “Why is that important to you?” (Yup, it’s the same question as question 1. No, it’s not a typo.)

Give yourself time to think and get a little deeper and then ask question 3 “Why is that important to you?”

Right about now you might notice that you’re starting to get underneath the surface reason a bit more. For example, if you say “I want X because it will make me happy”, WHY is being happy important to you? Sit with the questions, they might bring up things you didn’t expect them to.

Question 4 “Why is that important to you?”

Your answers might be a little harder to reach for now, they might be a little uncomfortable for you think about, they might be taking you to places you didn’t think they would.

Question 5 (final question), “Why is that important to you?”

By now you should be MUCH deeper than “I want X because it will make me happy.” Maybe you got to a place of recognising what happiness actually means for you. Maybe you realised that your pursuit of happiness is actually a way of avoiding feeling something else. Maybe you found something else entirely. Either way, if you really sit with these questions, if you’re really honest with yourself the answers can give you a deeper understanding on WHY you want the thing you want (and, spoiler alert, you might realise that the thing you thought you wanted isn’t something you actually want after all.)